Man sentenced to prison for role in Massachusetts drug trafficking organization run in public housing development

BOSTON – A supervisor within a Massachusetts drug trafficking organization has been sentenced in federal court in Boston.

Arthur Hodges, 36, was sentenced on August 10 by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 65 months in prison and three years of supervised release. On April 19, 2022, Hodges pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.

Hodges was charged with 23 others in June 2020 as part of Operation Snowfall, which ultimately resulted in the charging of two different drug trafficking conspiracies during the overall period of November 2018 through June 2020.

According to the charging documents, beginning in November 2018, law enforcement investigated a DTO for which Hodges was both a supervisor and a drug distributor. The DTO was comprised of Boston-based street gang members and associates in the Commonwealth Development in Brighton, formerly known as Fidelis Way, a multi-apartment public housing development. It is alleged that the DTO assumed control over multiple apartments, where they stored, cooked, packaged and sold drugs – most of which was cocaine or cocaine base, which the DTO supplied to customers, wholesalers and distributors. As a result, the DTO caused a blight of the development and reduced the quality of life of the other residents. As the investigation continued, law enforcement ultimately identified another DTO operating within the Boston area and targeted its large-scale drug suppliers and their associates.

Hodges oversaw a number of the Fidelis Way-related DTO members who were responsible for the packaging, selling, storing and distribution of drugs to, or collection of proceeds from, drug customers, drug runners or other drug distributors and suppliers. Hodges is estimated to have distributed between 280 and 840 grams of cocaine base during the course of his participation in the Fidelis Way DTO.

Hodges is the first defendant to be sentenced in the Fidelis-Way related drug conspiracy. Six defendants previously pleaded guilty. Two defendants pleaded not guilty and are pending trial.

First Assistant United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Douglas Bartlett, Acting U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts; Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Boston Police Acting Commissioner Gregory Long made the announcement. Assistance with the investigation was provided by the Braintree, Cambridge, Canton, Randolph and Weymouth Police Departments; the Suffolk, Norfolk and Bristol County District Attorneys’ Offices; and the Suffolk, Plymouth and Norfolk County Sheriffs’ Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kaitlin R. O’Donnell and Timothy E. Moran of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit prosecuted the case.